Planning your doll family? Did you have a plan? How did it work out?

When I get the money, the plan is completely and always to buy a doll based on character. I couldn't imagine buying a doll and not having a plan for it, simply because having a plan and ideas means I'll be getting my money's worth. If I just buy it and don't know what to do with it, it feels like a waste. But thats just how I'm seeing it now - looking at my options for buying. I like things because they are pretty, but I always need a good and solid reason for buying them - dolls or just everyday items.

 

Strangely, for the most part, I think I would rather be much more 'candid' when choosing my dolls. Part of this is because I really have no characters that I care enough about to reproduce in doll-form, and the other part is that - if I did come up with a character - if I found a sculpt that somewhat fit my character's needs, it might cost more than I'm willing to spend. I'm really not interested in spending somewhere around $700 on a doll any time soon.

I think it just gives me a lot more freedom with how I'd like to proceed.

 

I don't really have a set plan. I do have a wishlist but that can change on a whim and dolls often move back and forth between the "dolls I think are attractive and might like to have someday if I had extra money" list and "the "I definitely want this doll in my collection" list. My methods don't even really makes sense to me but I guess they fall more into the knowing what size/type/how many dolls I want and filling slots tactic. I for some reason think my collection should have some sort of balance (though the only way I seem to know if it is balanced is my looking at them all together and thinking I need/don't need this doll and feeling like they all fit in together and having a sense of what might be missing if they don't look complete as a group). I totally imagine how any new doll I'm interested in would look sitting next to my other dolls as well as how I feel about that doll on it's own. I also feel like I could get overwhelmed by having too many dolls or too many sizes. It feels like I'm being a little neurotic about it sometimes.

I think it kind of stems from knowing I can't afford every doll I like so I want to make the right decisions. It's a little disappointing to feel I want to sell a doll.

 

I buy my dolls to fit my original characters. I usually am more set on the character I want rather than the actual doll, but I won't change dolls once I buy one to fill the shoes of a particular character. I will get a doll of a particular character I hadn't planned on getting right away if a sculpt comes out that looks exactly like the character, but that's really the only little way I deviate from my plan.. and even that isn't much different. My dolls have to be of my characters. I can't make a character to suit a doll, the doll has to suit the preexisting character.

 

I have a loose plan in place, mostly because there's a few dolls I really, really want right now, chosen because they particularly fit a few characters that I want to have in my family. One is on layaway right now, as a matter of fact.

Other than that, I'm not typically too much for planning. I just bought a doll yesterday completely on a whim because I took one look at her face and realized I had a name and character immediately in mind for her.

 

The one doll I have now, and the doll I'm looking at next have both been entirely about matching character. I tend to be the kind of person who does extensive research before any purchase, even more so with something as expensive as a BJD.

Browsing on a whim, I'll say "Oooh, he/she is beautiful!" Then I look at the price tag, grimace, and say, "But not for me."

It's when I keep coming back to one of those models that I spotted while just browsing that I start to consider. If I have a character that fits, and it's something I could potentially afford, it's added to the wishlist.

 

At first I went for the "doll now, personality later" tactic. And then I started going for shelling characters
I essentially plan them based on how close they are to me. Some characters I've had for almost a decade, and because I love them dearly, I put them into my wishlist. And they'd strictly be SDs because SDs are just much more versatile than MSDs.. So far that tactic hasn't changed. There is no one real/abstract way to do it either, it depends on the buyer. I plan sentimentally, others plan impulsively, and so on.

 

I think I use a mixture of all of the above. I started with certain characters I wanted my dolls to fit and as time progressed and new people and experiences changed me, I found that I was seeing dolls I liked and using them for characters I hadn't thought about. I think the best way-especially when you're new-is to start with a basic idea and let it grow. Something I've discovered that I think a lot of other people can vouch for is that when you really start your family you want it to grow and you find yourself making it grow.

 

I'm guilty of looking at a doll that strikes me and then build a character off of that doll. Other times, I look for a specific doll to "tell their own story" that would be a good buy. As of now, I only have one. Maybe when finances are back to being stable again, I will continue to build my doll family.

As for size, I only have two that I'm very... tunnel-visioned(?) about. Those are MSD and YoSD.

 

There is only one doll that I am specifically wanting, and I will definitely have to have one day. The other dolls that my family will have will most likely be decided on how I feel about them physically, and if they are a character that I am fond of and I like the way the doll company made them look. I'm not sure about how many dolls that I want yet. As of this moment, I think the most I will ever have will be around 10-15. Even thinking about that seems extreme! I can hardly imagine having 3 at this second, but I believe my maximum will be around 15. By then I'll have to think very hard about buying another doll.

 

Love seeing all the different plans/lack thereof that go into getting your dolls.

Personally I joined this hobby for the sole purpose of getting a doll for each character in my novel series (I am currently working on). I have been wanting a way to bring my characters to life, and then stumbled into the BJD world. I fell in love and have since been searching for the main characters in doll form. It's tough since the aesthetics of a doll have to match the character or at least be customizable to the character, but that's sort of the thrill of the hunt for me. So I have a plan... a very detailed one, and I intend to stick to it until I get all the main characters, then possibly some of the minor characters (if I have room and funds ) lol.

 

For my family I just fall in love with a doll and then decide what slot they will fill in my dollie circus ^^

 

Well I only have my one girl (RS Mei) and she certainly wasnt planned for any character. I had to reasons for buying her which I know some people would yell at me for but they might be worth mentioning. Reason 1,was that I wanted to get a cheaper doll as my first one just in case I decided later that BJDs werent for me. Just for the record that IS NOT the case! I love my Mei doll to pieces! My other reason was because I thought she was pretty. I loved how her face was both young yet mature; strong yet feminine. Like I said before I love her to pieces.

Now my strategy has definately changed tho. I have been looking around different sites looking at different dolls and now on my wish list is Ha-nee from Ocean Moon, Isis from Dream of Doll, and a doll named Shawna whos company name escapes me right now. I want them because they have their own unique personalities that I adore. I dont think I could ever buy a doll to fit a character since, like I said, they all have their unique personality, like little people. I might have them cosplay but they will all have their own style and names.

Also, I have gotten my friend into the hobby a bit and she wants her first doll to be a boy tho she hasnt looked around yet. I think maybe, if she gets a boy, he will probably end up as my girl's boyfriend or something. who knows? but thats the plan so far. She also doesnt plan on filling a character either.

 

I kind of do both "Tactics", I guess. Some characters are predetermined, and others the personality comes after I buy a doll I felt I "needed to get". My doll family started as four particular characters and dolls. Then, the spontaneity of buying dolls that didn't fit in there came. But with the four I have now, dolls and heads, I feel like I'm doing pretty well. xD My plan was built with my first doll, my second doll was fit into it as a fifth, the third was the head of one of my dream dolls so she became part of the plan, and the fourth (head) just arrived today and hasn't got a place yet.

My doll family will end up what it will. Plans change.

 

I don't exactly 'plan' my doll family. Instead, if I see a doll I really like, a personality starts developing from the pictures. Pretty soon, it then evolves into something that would fit in with the existing storyline with my current doll family. Though recently after purchasing a Zinc, I knew he had to have a companion of sorts that had to be msd or smaller, a girl, and cute. That was the only time you can say I planned and searched.

 

I find dolls that I like and if I really want them, they'll get characters as I save for them. I don't usually actively look for dolls for a certain character, but I don't plan to buy dolls with no character in mind for them (and probably wouldn't, because with the time it takes for me to save for a doll if I don't have a character for them, I probably never would XD)

 

I just buy dolls I like and give them their personalities later. No family/characters/storylines planned before bringing any of them back. All of my dolls dont fit into the same storyline and live in their individual world. 'Cept for couples but that usually dont work out too well >__>

 

(I don't remember answering this before, but it's totally possible that I have, and if so, I apologize! But maybe my answer has changed...)

I don't make hard-and-fast plans... I have my Long Term Plans, but I change my mind about priorities so much that it's easier for me to leave things open. There are so many that I want, and if I start working on a different writing project, then I might decide a different character is more important to have dollified.

=^__^=
Anneko

 

How do YOU plan your doll family?
I didn't, it just happened without my consent! I've only got one right now--before she even came in, I started looking around at other dollies, found one to match my oc Sylva, then recently one that looked like a friend's character Kahn, and yet ANOTHER that looked like one of my other characters, Azre...

Their family won't really be canon (well--most of it will. Syl/Az/Kahn are from the same 'verse, Lenka will be the oddball out), buuut for me it's (going to be) more about bringing my favorite characters into doll form.

Has that tactic changed?
Maybe? I'm trying to actually work out how far apart the purchases should be to be reasonable, and how to save up, and...figure out the situation with space (they can't all just live on my bookshelf...can they? )

Do you feel there is a "best" way to do it?
Not impulsively.

 

I suppose that everyone is different. I don't plan mine at all, but rush in and buy some and then over time work out what my taste is and which ones 'fit' and then I sell on the others. A bit random but it works quite well for someone who has a short attention span like me